Sunday, April 14, 2013

"Alive and Active" (Final)

"Words become alive and active when they take root in the heart." This quote was inspired by Psalm 119 and I chose the placement of the lettering to be in the interior of the piece and readable but not dominating the piece. This offers up a comparison with the heart being a small organ located in the interior of our being. On the other hand, all of the gestural marks and lettering visually describe words as being alive and active by the nature of their movement.

I am in a week long glass fusing class with the discussion and projects all centering around abstraction and design. The class had a rather open discussion yesterday about how often an artist creates their original concept to come out exactly as they envisioned it to be. The answer was never.

Artists can invite disaster by expecting or trying to get their work to fit into a preconceived mold. It simply doesn't work that way. Having a general plan or concept is very wise, but the piece yields surprises as it moves along. And it's those surprises that give it the energy it needs to be successful and appreciated by the viewer.

It's really all about making design decisions along the way. More often than not, each piece gives you a bit more experience and informs the decisions for the next piece and the one after that....etc. So it is best to study your own work and see where you are with your habitual marks, textures, colors, etc. and then build upon that. It is impossible to begin your process where some other artist left off. You can only start a new piece where your last one left off.

For instance, I knew that a grid format created in an erratic fashion would create a visual punch. I also knew that silver leaf looks fantastic with black, text pages, and rice papers. I knew all of that because of my past pieces. However, I had no idea where the text would end up and this is the first time I have used pointed brush lettering and burnt sienna in this mix of elements.

So now I have another piece under my belt and I know a bit more and I hope you have learned a bit more by observing my process. In the next few days I will be posting some of the work I am creating in the glass fusing class. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

About Me

I have chosen this venue to give myself a strong challenge of posting daily and moving out of my comfort zone. Although I have done my share of painting and mixed media, I have chosen to combine my favorite things and create 6 x 6's with an emphasis on hand lettering, including my original quotes, expressive drawing and stamped geometric forms. My youngest daughter, Alice, is an English teacher and will also be contributing to the project. Enjoy.